Skate for railroad cars



Feb. 26, 1957 Filed Dec. 18, 1952 s. J. BECK 2,782,728

SKATE FOR RAILROAD CARS.

3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. fa/m/e/ Jmea fleck S. J. BECK SKATE FOR RAILROAD CARS Feb. 26, 1957 Filed Dec. 18, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 1 INVENTOR.

.fimm/e/ Jones 544% A wR/v 4 Feb. 26; 1957 S.- J. BECK SKATE FOR RAILROAD CARS Filed Dec. 18, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 ,\/m// -m I ,v iI A /AF v Q P \J m N $8 my Wm w w& mmw N g xv 1.. W m 1 sbm @S xg m M an RN aw Q 4 M QNN .m\ E @m m SKATE FOR RAILROAD CARS Samuel Jones Beck, Baxley, Ga., assignor to Safety Skate Company, a corporation of Kansas Application December 18, 1952, Serial No. 326,725

9 Claims. (Cl. 104-260) This invention relates to the field of railway equipment and particularly to a skate in the nature of a skid or shoe made to fit over the rail and used as a brake under a railroad car wheel as is well understood by those skilled in this art.

It is the primary object of the present invention to provide improvements in skates for railroad cars; to eliminate the hazards accompanying the use and/or fail ure to employ conventional skates now provided for the purpose of braking the cars on spur tracks at weigh stations and in the switching yards generally; and to also safeguard the railway equipment, particularly the car wheels themselves, against damage.

Conventional skids are not entirely satisfactory for many reasons. In operation they are placed upon the rail in a position for receiving the car wheel which rolls thereupon and comes into abutment therewith, the wheel thereupon ceasing its rotation and the skate sliding along the rail until the car comes to rest. No satisfactory means has heretofore been provided to mount the skid on the track so as to assure that the same will be in position for receiving a car wheel when braking becomes necessary. When cars are released from the locomotive, the workmen have an absolute obligation to stop the car before it strike other cars or rolls into the path of travel of trains on main lines. Because of this obligation, workmen are oftentimes injured or killed while attempting to climb upon the car and apply its brakes because of failure of the skids presently used.

Other disadvantages include the frequent breakage and damage of the shoe itself because of its striking ends of the rails at joints as it skids along the rail; the difficulty of aligning the same when a pair of skids is employed for the purpose of avoiding wear on the tread of the car wheels; the adaptability of conventional skids for use in only one direction; and burning out or breaking of the bits that present an inclined ramp on the skid bar.

Accordingly, the important objects of the present invention include the provision of a skate having releasable means for clamping the same upon the rail; formed to adapt the same for use from either of two ends thereof; provided with a novel bit assembly capable of dissipating the heat and withstanding stresses applied thereto during use; having means for automatically raising the bits as the car wheels roll upon the skid so that the same will not catch upon high places in the rail; and including a holding assembly to facilitate aligning of a pair of skates one on each rail respectively.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a skate for railroad cars made pursuant to the present invention shown mounted upon a rail in a position ready for disposition in a holder assembly mounted on the rail.

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the assembly as shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal, cross-sectional view through the skate showing the same mounte'd upon a rail and illustrating the position of the parts thereof when a car wheel rolls thereon.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary, top plan view taken on line IV-IV of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged, fragmentary, cross-sectional view taken on line VV of Fig. 4.

'Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken on line VIVI of Fig. 1.

Fig. 7 is a detailed, cross-sectional view taken on line VII-VII of Fig. 1.

Fig. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken on line VIII-VIII of Fig. -1.

Fig. 9 is a top plan view of a skate for railroad cars made pursuant to a modified form of the present invention.

Fig. 10 is a cross-sectional view taken on line XX of Fig. 9.

Fig. 11 is a cross-sectional view taken on line XI-XI of Fig. 9.

Fig. -12 is a cross-sectional view similar to Fig. 11 showing the jaws released; and

Fig. 13 is an enlarged cross-sectional view through one of the bits.

In Figs. 1 to 8 inclusive of the drawings there is shown a skate broadly designated by the numeral 10 made according to one form of the present invention and operably mounted upon the uppermost surface of a rail 12 with a car wheel 14 shown fragmentan'ly and resting upon the skate 10 against an abutment 16. The V-shaped abutment 16 is secured directly to an elongated skid bar 18 midway between the ends thereof and which skid bar 18 rests flatly upon the rail 12. Ramp means 20 is provided at each end respective-1y of the skid bar 18 and each includes a bit that consists of a pair of articulated, wedge-shaped tongues 22 and 24.

Skid bar 18 is bufureated to pivotally receive the tongue 24 by mean of a pivot pin 26 and the tongue 24 is in turn bifurcated to swingably receive the tongue 22 through the medium of a pivot pin 28 parallel with the pin 26. The tongues 22 and 24 normally rest upon the rail 12 as shown beneath the car wheel 14 in Fig. 3 of the drawings, but the innermost end of the tongue 22 extends above the tongue 24 adapting the same for swinging upwardly away from the rail 12 as shown to the right of Fig. 3, .in a manner such as hereinafter explained.

The skid bar 18 is adapted for fitting upon the rail 12 through the medium of a pair of spaced saddles 30 that straddle the rail 12 in the manner shown by Fig. 7 of the drawings, the two saddles 30 being adjacent the abutment 16 as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

Additionally, skid bar 18 is releasably held against sliding movement on the rail 12 through the medium of a rail clamp 32 (Fig. 6) that includes a pair of opposed, arcuate arms 34 and 36 mounted for swinging movement toward and away from each other by means of a pin 33 carried by the abutment 16. The arms 34 and 36 are provided with jaws '40 and 42 respectively, pivotally secured thereto at their lowermost 'ends, jaws 40 and 42 being yieldably held biased against the rail 12 on opposite sides thereof by means of a spring 44 joining the arms 34 and 36 above the skid bar 18.

Fingers 46 and 48 swingably mounted on the arms 34 and 36 respectively, between the spring 44 and the skid bar 18, extend toward each other in the manner shown by Fig. 6 of the drawings.

Skid bar 18 carries a reciprocable, U-shaped release member '50 for the clamp 32 that is also adapted to actuate the tongues 22. Member 50 therefore, includes an elongated bight 52 whose central portion is T-shaped in crosssection as shown in Figs. 6 and 7. A pair of upstanding, bifurcated legs 54 and 56 forming a part of the member 50 carries rollers 58 and 60 respectively. Abutment 16 3 is cut away as at62 and--64 '(Figs. 1, 3 and 6) to clear the 'bight portion 52 of member 50'for reciprocation longitudinally of the skid bar 18.

The skid bar 18 has a longitudinal groove 66 in its uppermost face and coextensive in length therewith for slidably receiving the member 50, and to this end, portions of the groove'66 extending outwardly from the abutment 16 in both directions, is undercut in the skid bar 18 as shown in Fig. 7, to maintain the member 50 in place. It is noted that the bight 52 of member 50 is disposed between the arms-34 and 36 and more particularly between the inwardly extending fingers 46 and 48 that are held in engagement with the opposed sidesof the bight portion 52 by spring 44.

When the member 50 is shifted relative to the skid bar 18 to the right, viewing Figs. 1, 2and 3, a pair of opposed cams 68 on the bight 52 adjacent one end thereof moves between and in engagement with the fingers 46 and '48, thereby spreading the same apart and swinging the arms 34 and 36 away from each other against the action of spring 44 to release the jaws 40 and 42 from rail 12. When the member 50 is shifted to the left with respect to skid bar 18, viewing Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive, a pair of opposed cams 70 on the bight portion 52 spaced from the cams 68, engage the fingers 46 and 48 to release the jaws 40 and 42 in the same manner. That part of the member 50 centrally of the bight portion 52 which is disposed in the undercut portion of groove 66 as shown in Fig. 7, is provided with upwardly and outwardly inclined, opposed cams 72 and 74 (Fig. 3) engageable alternately with the innermost tapered ends 76 of tongues 22 to swing the latter upwardly away from the rail 12 relative to the corresponding tongues 24, as shown to the right of Fig. 3. As shown in Fig. of the drawings, each tongue 24 has a pair of spaced plates 78 and 80 beneath its tongue 22 on opposite sides of the pivot pin 28 for limiting the extent of swinging movement of tongue 22 relative to tongue 24. Similarly, skid bar 18 has a pair of'spaced plates 82 and 84 underlying each tongue 24 respectively on opposite sides of the corresponding pivot pin 26 to limit the extent of swinging movement of the tongues 24 in both directions relative to the skid bar 18.

In Figs. 1, 2 and 8 there is shown a holder broadly designated by the numeral '86 for releasably holding the skate in a predetermined position relative to rail 12. Holder 86 includes a plate 88 underlying rail 12 and releasably mounted thereon through the medium of an integral flange '90 and an adjustable flange 92 on opposite sides of the rail 12 as shown in Figs. 1 and 8, and each additionally held in place by setscrews 94. A pair of upstanding flanges 96 on the plate 88 spaced outwardly from the rail 12, adjustably receives a box 98 for an inverted cup 100 that is biased upwardly 'by means of a spring 102. A second box 104 adjustably secured to the box 98 receives a second cup 106 that is yieldably biased downwardly against the cup 100 by a spring 108.

A pair of opposed plates 110 and 112 integral with the skid bar 18 midway between the ends thereof and extending laterally therefrom in opposite directions, are each adapted for disposition between the spring-loaded cups 100 and 106 when the skate 10 is mounted on the rail 12.

It is manifest therefore, that if the skate 10, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawing, were shifted to the left, the plate 112 would readily slip between the cups 100 and 106 of holder 86.

A single skate 10 or a pair of skates, one on each rail respectively, may be employedwith or without the holder 86 as desired, but it is to be preferred that each rail be equipped with a holder 86, which pair of holders 86 are pre-aligned so that when a skate 10 is placed on each rail and the proximal plate 110-112 thereof placed between the corresponding cups 100106, the workman will be assured that the skates 10 are in proper transverse alignment relative to the two parallel rails 12. when the skate 10 is thus positioned on the rail 12 with the skid bar 18 resting flatly thereon as is best seen in Figs. 2, 3, 5, 6 and 7, the reciprocable release member 50 is centered relative to the central abutment 16 as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, and in this position, jaws 40 and 42 are in clamping relationship to the rail 12 and both ramp means 20 are resting flatly upon the uppermost surface of rail 12 as shown in Figs. 2 and 5 of the drawings. Skates 10 within their aligned holders 86, are thereupon conditioned ready for use and adapted to receive a car wheel 14 approaching the same from either direction.

As the car wheel 14 rolls upon the skid bar 18 with the aid of one of the ramps 20, the rim of the wheel 14 will come into contact with one of the rollers 58 or 60, shifting the member 50 in one direction relative to the skid bar 18 and the abutment 16. Such movement of the member 50 will continue until the wheel 14 comes into engagement with the abutment 16 as shown in Fig. 3. In this figure, member 50 is shown shifted to the right asa result of the rim of the car wheel 14 moving into engagement with the roller 58. When the wheel 14 is upon the skid bar 18 as shown in Fig. 3, the cams 68 will have moved between the fingers 46 and 48, spreading the jaws 40 and 42 and releasing the entire skate 10 for sliding movement along the rail 12 to the right, viewing Fig. 3, in the direction of' movement of the railway car. Additionally, the cam 74 will have moved to'a position above the tongue 24 remotefrom wheel 14 and into engagement with the innermost, rounded end of the tongue 22'shown on the right of Fig. 3, to raise the latter out of engagement with the uppermost surface of rail 12.

It is noted in Fig. 3 of the drawings, that the central portion vof bight 52 disposed in the undercut stretch of groove 66, is in overlying relationship to the raised tongue 22. Accordingly, as the skid bar 18 slides along the rail 12, the elevated tongue or bit 22 will not come into engagement with raised portions of the rail 12, particularly adjacent joints therein. Manifestly, when the wheel 14 moves upon the skid bar 13 from the opposite direction, the member 50 will be shifted to the left, viewing Fig. 3, the jaws 40 and 42 will be released, and the opposite ramp assembly 20 will be actuated in the same manner.

By virtue of the yieldable grip of the cups and 106 on the plates or 112 as the case may be, the latter will readily slip from'between the cups 100 and 106 as the skate'lO skids along the rail 12 with the wheel-14 resting non-rotatably thereonand until the car is braked to a stop by the action of the skates 10. During'thesliding'movement of the skates 10, and while the jaws 40 and 42 are released, the saddles 30 aid 'in holding the skates 10 in place on the rail 12. By virtue of the'provision of underlying plates 7880-8284, it is impossible for the operator to inadvertently place the skates10 in position ready for use, with the bits or tongues 2224 swung upwardly where the same would be contacted by the wheel 14 and broken from the vskid bar 18.

Further, the provision of a toggle assembly or the utilization of a number of articulated bits, presents a construction wherein heat is readily dissipated and the bit assembly not likely to be broken or torn loose from its swingable connection with the skid bar 18.

In the modification of my invention shown by Figs. 9 to 13'inclusive, there is provided a skate broadly designated by the numeral 200, that includes an elongated bar 202 that is adapted to rest directly upon the uppermost face of rail 204. The bar 202 is releasably held against sliding movement longitudinally of the rail 204 in much the same manner as provided in the skate shown in Figs. 1 to 8 inclusive, through the medium of a clamp assembly 206. Here again there is provided a V-shaped abutment 208 for the car wheel, and which abutment 208 extends upwardly from the bar 202to which it is integrally atfixed intermediate the endsthereof. Abutment 208 has a pivot pin 210 for swingably mounting a pair of opposed arcuate arms 212 and 214, having jaws 216 and 218 pivotally secured thereto on opposite sides of the rail 204. The jaws 216 and 218 are yieldably biased toward each other, engaging the rail 204 by means of a spring 220 that interconnects the arms 212 and 214 between the bar 202 and the pivot pin 210.

The bar 202 is provided with a longitudinal groove 222 for receiving at least a portion of a pair of opposed elongated arms 224 and 226 that terminate at their outermost free ends in wedge-shaped ramp structure or bits 228 and 230 respectively, Each of the arms 224-226 is provided with a boss 232 therebeneath, adjacent the bit 228 or 230 thereof, as the case may be, that extends into .a cavity 234 in the bar 202. Boss 232 has an elongated slot 236 that receives a transverse pivot pin 238 carried by the bar 202.

Each bit 228-230 has a fiat, lowermost surface 240 which rests flatly on the rail 204 adjacent the proximal end of bar 202 when the arms 224-226 and the bits 228- 230 are in the position shown by Figs. ll to 13 inclusive of the drawing. The inclined uppermost surfaces of the bits 228 and 230 are continuations of the inclined uppermost surfaces of the arms 224 and 226, respectively.

A portion 242 of the lowermost faces of the arms 224 and 226 adjacent the bosses 232 is formed to present a fulcrum for the arms 224 and 226 tiltable on the bar 202 within the groove 222 thereof, and to lie horizontally within the groove 222 when the arms 224 and 226 swing downwardly and tip the bits 228 and 230 upwardly as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 13.

When the arms 224 and 226 swing to the dotted line position of Fig. 13, wedge-shaped embossments 244 and 246 on the innermost proximal ends of arms 224 and 226 respectively (see Figs. 11 and 12), move between inturned fingers 248 and 250 on arms 212 and 214 respectively, in the manner illustrated by Fig. 12 of the drawings, to spread the arms 212 and 214 against the action of spring 220 and thereby move the jaws 216 and 218 out of engagement with the rail 204 for free, sliding movement of the entire skate 200 along the rail 204.

Figs. 9 to 12 inclusive illustrate clearly the provision of openings 252 in the abutment 208 for clearing the swingable arms 224 and 226. Springs 254 carried by the abutment 208 and connected to the arms 224-226 yieldably hold the latter in the position illustrated by Figs. and ll. The arm 226 is provided with a pin 256 on the innermost end thereof, that extends loosely into a socket 258 in the innermost end of arm 224,

thereby connecting the arms 224-226 for swinging movement together as a unit.

As in the case of the form of my invention shown in Figs. 1 to 8 inclusive, skate 200 may be provided with a pair of opposed plates 260 integral with bar 202 intermediate its ends for use in connection with aligning structure such as is illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 8, in which event a pair of skates 200 would be used in the manner above described.

Skate 200 is advantageous because of the fact that the jaws 216 and 218 are in clamped relationship to the rail 204, to hold the bar 202 against sliding movement on the rail 204 at all times when there is no car wheel resting on the skate 200. Thus the skate 200 is normally in the position shown by Figs. 10 and 11, ready for receiving a car wheel approaching the skate 200 from either direction. As soon as the wheel rolls upon one of the bits 228-430 and thence upon the corresponding arm 224-26. both of the wedge-shaped embossments 244-446 will move between the fingers 248-250 releasing the jaws 216-218 and raising both of the bits 228-230 off of the rail 204, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 13. Thereupon as the bar 202 skids along the rail 204 with the railway wheel, the leading bit will clear any projections on the rail and both bits will be free of frictional engagement with the rail 204. By virtue of this construction, there will be no heat generated in the bits and it is possible to provide a single wedgeshaped construction in the hits as shown in Figs. 9 to 13 inclusive, eliminating the necessity of the articulated structure shown in the form of the invention in Figs. 1 to 8 inclusive. As soon as the wheel rolls away from the abutment 208, the arms 224 and 226 will tip about the fulcrum portions 242 and the entire assembly will re-assume the position shown in Figs. 10 and 11. Railway cars thereafter approaching from either direction will roll upon the skate and not tend to push the same along the rail 204 therewith because of the fact that the jaws 216 and 218 are automatically re-set each time the springs 254 are permitted to swing the arms 224 and 226 upwardly. The slots 236 permit the desired tipping action of the arms 224 and 226 on the bar 202. it is to be noted in Figs. 10 and 13 that the ends of the bar 202 are rounded so that the bar 202 will readily slide over any projections along the rail 204.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A skate for use as brake beneath a railroad car wheel, said skate comprising an elongated skid bar adapted to slide on a rail; an abutment on the skid bar for said wheel; a releasable rail clamp mounted on the abutment, said clamp being normally in a closed position in engagement with the rail; and structure movable on the skid bar to and from a position for releasing said clamp to an open position out of engagement with the rail, said structure being within the path of travel of said wheel for movement thereby to said clamp releasing position as the wheel rolls upon the skid bar and against said abutment.

' 2. A skate for use as a brake beneath a railroad car wheel, said skate comprising an elongated skid bar adapted to slide on a rail; an abutment on the skid bar for said wheel; a rail clamp on the abutment, said clamp having a pair of opposed jaws movable to and from a closed position engaging the rail; and structure movable on the skid bar into engagement with the clamp to move the jaws into an open position out of engagement with the rail, said structure being within the path of travel of said wheel for movement thereby into engagement with the clamp as the wheel rolls upon the skid bar and against said abutment.

3. A skate for use as a brake beneath a railroad car wheel, said skate comprising an elongated skid bar; means on the skid bar for slida-bly mounting the same on a rail; an abutment on the skid bar for said wheel; a rail clamp having a pair of opposed arms each provided with a jaw, said arms being swingable on the abutment toward and away from each other to move the jaws into and out of engagement with the rail; and structure movable on the skid bar into engagement with the arms therebetween to move the jaws out of engagement with the rail, said structure being within the path of travel of said Wheel for movement thereby into engagement with the arms as the Wheel rolls upon the skid bar and against said abutment.

4. A skate for use as a brake beneath a railroad car wheel, said skate comprising an elongated skid bar adapted to slide on a rail; an abutment on the skid bar for said wheel; a rail clamp having a pair of opposed arms each provided with a jaw, said arms being swingable on the abutment toward and away from each other to move the jaws into and out of engagement with the rail; an elongated clamp release member pivotally mounted intermediate the ends thereof on the skid bar for tilting movement relative thereto; and cam means on the member engageable with the arms therebetween as the member is moved in one direction to move the jaws out of engagement with the rail, said member being Within the path of travel of said wheel for movement thereby in said one direction as the wheel rolls thereupon and against said abutment.

5. A skate for use as a brake beneath a railroad car wheel, said skate comprising an elongated skid bar adapted to slide on a rail; an abutment on the skid bar intermediate the ends thereof; ramp means pivotally mounted on the skid bar at each end thereof respectively for tilting movement relative thereto; and structure movable on the skid bar in either of two directions for alternately engaging the ramp means to tilt the same to a position out of engagement with the rail, said structure being Within the path of travel of a car wheel rolling thereupon from either of said ends thereof into engagement with the abutment to move said structure and thereby tilt one of the ramp means to said position.

6. A skate for use as a brake beneath a railroad car wheel, said skate comprising an elongated skid bar; means on the skid bar for slidably mounting the same on a rail; an abutment on the skid bar intermediate the ends thereof; ramp means pivotally mounted on the skid bar at each end thereof respectively for tilting movement relative thereto; an elongated member reciprocable on the skid bar longitudinally thereof; and cam means on the member for each ramp respectively and alternately engageable with the ramp means as the member is reciprocated to tilt the ramp means to a position out of engagement with the rail, said member being within the path of travel of a car wheel rolling upon the skid bar from either of said ends thereof into engagement with the abutment to move said member and thereby tilt one of the ramp means to said position.

7. A skate for use as a brake beneath a railroad car wheel, said skate comprising an elongated skid bar; means on the skid bar for slidably mounting the same on a rail; an abutment on the skid bar intermediate the ends thereof; ram means pivotally mounted on the skid bar at' each end thereof respectively for tilting movement relative thereto; a releasable clamp on the abutment; and structure movable on the skid bar in either of two directions for alternately engaging the ramp means to tilt the same to a position out of engagement with the rail, said structure being within the path of travel of a car wheel rolling upon the skid bar from either of said ends thereof into engagement with the abutment to move said structure and thereby tilt one of the ramp means to said position, said structure having means thereon for releasing said clamp each time the structure is moved by a wheel on the skid bar. 7

8. A skate for use as a brake beneath a railroad car wheel, said skate comprising an elongated skid bar; means on the skid bar for slidably mounting the same on a rail;

an abutment on the skid bar intermediate the ends thereof; ramp means pivotally mounted on the skid bar at each end thereof respectively for tilting movement relative thereto; a releasable rail clamp on the abutment; an elongated member reciprocable on the skid bar longitudinally thereof; cam means on the member for each ramp respectively and alternately engageable with the ramp means as the member is reciprocated to tilt the ramp means to a position out of engagement with the rail, said member being within the path of travel of a car wheel rolling upon the skid bar from either of said ends thereof into engagement with the abutment to move said member and thereby tilt one of the ramp means to said position; and cam means on the member engageable with the clamp each time the structure is reciprocated by a wheel on the skid bar to release the clamp.

9. A skate for use as a brake beneath a railroad car wheel, said skate comprising an elongated skid bar; saddle means on the skid bar adapted to straddle a rail for slidably mounting the skid bar on said rail; ramp means normally resting on the rail and pivotally mounted on each end of the skid bar respectively for tilting movement relative to the rail; an abutment on the skid bar midway between the ends thereof; a pair of arms swin'gable on the abutment toward and away from each other; a jaw on each arm respectively; resilient means joining the arms for yieldably holding the jaws in clamping relationship with the rail; an elongated member between the arms and reciprocable on the skid bar longitudinally thereof; a pair of spaced cams on the member alternately engageable with the arms as the member is reciprocated for swinging the arms away from each other and thereby releasing the jaws from the rail; and a pair of spaced cams on the member alternately engageable with the ramp means as the member is reciprocated for moving the ramp means out of engagement with the rail, said member being within the path of travel of a car wheel rolling upon the skid bar from either end thereof to a position against the abutment for movement of the member by the car wheel relative to the skid bar.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,170,523 Wilcox Aug. 22, 1939 2,613,612 Bone Oct. 14, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 99,897 Switzerland June 16, 1923 

